Croydon Municipal League Charles Kirsch Cup Final

CR Galaxy 2 Golden Lion 5

A hat-trick from Danny Clayton ensured Premier Division Golden Lion claimed the Charles Kirsch Cup with a convincing victory over CR Galaxy at Croydon Arena.

Lion started brightly against the young Division One side and took the lead on seven minutes thanks to a fine Levi Kennedy cross into the penalty area which Galaxy failed to clear properly. The ball fell nicely into the path of Clayton, who made no mistake.

Galaxy responded with a free-kick that hit the wall, then a good passing move upfield which faltered as it was cleared away and another free-kick which failed to clear the wall.

However, their pressure paid off in the 20th minute when a throw-in from the right wing was only cleared for Galaxy to shoot across the goalmouth and into the net for the equaliser.

Parity lasted only 15 minutes when a poor cross-field pass found Clayton unmarked and he easily slotted home for his second.

The second half started as the first had finished with both teams having chances.

On the hour-mark Galaxy's captain Jamie King was able to get his foot to a cross in spite of some close marking. The ball deflected to captain Scott Bellamy, who found the net for the equaliser.

This inspired Galaxy and they now took more control of the game. A free-kick was floated across the area, but somehow, the three incoming Galaxy strikers failed to find the all-important touch. Then a superb passing move ended in an offside pass as it entered the Lion penalty area.

Their closest attempt was when they worked the ball to the by-line, only to see the final cross hit the post and then rebound off a Lion defender for a corner.

It was Golden Lion, however, who broke the deadlock halfway through the half when Scott Bellamy was upended in the box allowing Clayton to complete his hat-trick from the penalty spot.

Although Galaxy continued to search for the equaliser, Golden Lion were proving to be more creative and started to dominate.

Substitute Lewis Lineker passed the ball across field to find Jesse Davis at the far post and he headed the ball into the penalty area for Clayton to head into the net for his and Lion's fourth goal.

Lion made sure of the victory two minutes later when Lineker connected with a corner and saw his header loop over the Galaxy keeper and into the net.